BUCHAREST, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Romania's leftist government
has approved a draft law enabling Canada's Gabriel Resources
to open Europe's biggest open cast gold mine after
securing a bigger stake in the project, drawing the ire of local
people who oppose the mine.

The 14-year-old project has been in limbo for years,
awaiting a key environmental permit, but Prime Minister Victor
Ponta said last month the mine was an economic priority and sped
up the process, with parliament now expected to vote on the
draft law in September.

Gabriel controls the project through its local unit, Rosia
Montana Gold Corporation (RMGC), in which the government also
owns a stake that will rise to 25 percent by the time
construction starts, from the current 20 percent.

RMGC will also pay a royalty tax on gold of 6 percent,
compared to the 4 percent applied to other mineral resource
projects, the government said on Tuesday. The mine aims to use
cyanide to extract 314 tonnes of gold and 1,600 tonnes of silver
among a cluster of villages known as Rosia Montana.

The government also said the draft law gives the project
"special national interest", which will make it easier for RMGC
to expropriate the few locals who oppose the project and who own
land needed for the mine.

"We will make it so that parliamentarians across the country
know what they are voting for and that their vote is not without
consequences," Eugen David, head of anti-mine organisation
Alburnus Maior said in a statement.
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